FCC proposal frowns upon robotexts and robocalls

Robocalls are a no-no in most places, and robotexts are treated largely the same way. That doesn't stop them from happening, however, and so the FCC would like to see options for consumers to block them entirely. As such, the commission has proposed changes to the auto-dialing rules, and it'll be voting on the proposal the middle of next month. Under it, service providers will be able to offer "technologies" of some sort for blocking the robocalls if they're unwanted, as well as robotexts in the case of wireless carriers.

Such a change would get rid of concerns service providers have about potentially running afoul of current law by blocking robocalls and messages, and would bring the clarification many — including other government agencies — have been pressing for.

Voting on the proposal will take place on June 18. If it passes, service providers will be free to block such calls and messages no matter where they're coming from if the user makes a request. Likewise, if subscribers want to receive such messages they must express as much.

Under the proposal, it is clarified that any sort of dialing technology able to randomly dial or call sequential numbers counts as an auto-dialer. In addition, companies are still required to avoid calling numbers that have been reassigned, and are granted a single reprieve for calling the number (in order to find out it now belongs to someone else).

SOURCE: Reuters